Let's talk about money...

[Napierdalac]

When I'm done studying mechanical engineering my starting salary will be about 32-35k danish kroner.

That equals up to about 75k USD per year. That is a little bit over the median in Denmark. I would say that if you earn more than 50k DKK (ca. 8900 USD) per month you have a big salary here.

Right now I get about 1000 USD per month from the government for studying.. I make do, even though half that is the price for my dorm room..

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

I have compared the prices of living in US to Lithuania (more than a few times too). The living price does not differentiate very much. Yes there are higher costs of some household supplies but in general it is similar. Infact food and petrol is much cheaper in US (dont you dare to complain about expensive gas, we got 3 times the cost). and yet we make do with 6000 a year, 50.000 here is being rich, so its not a matter of "not living paycheck to paycheck" but a matter of perspective. you are used to live like that and you think anything less is poor.

The reason being is that I pay 900 dollars a month for my apartment alone. (and its SHARED with other people) Electric cost 100 dollars a month, cable cost 135 dollars a month.

I couldn't afford my own BASIC essentials on a 6k salary. No there are no cheaper apartments unless you want to move into the ghetto (lowest price is 650 a month).

From what i could gather electricity costs vary 12¢ to 50¢ per KWH, that means you need to run from 834 to 200 KWH per month. Now lets not assume you have the worst case scenario of 50cents per KWH. i live in a family of 5 people, 3 rooms apartment. We rarely use 200 KWH per month, and thats 5 people, you alone use more than that, so the reason you pay too much is because you waste energy. As for cable, it is true that it is bloody expensive in US, thats one good thing we got here. according to this: http://www.discoverabroad.com/us/livingabroad/housing/apartmentmore.htm rent is expensive, but it is not as expensive as you claim, unless you live in california. as the share of people go up it usually goes down per person. Once again, its not a matter of "not living paycheck to paycheck" but a matter of perspective. you are used to live like that and you think anything less is poor.

I do agree I am use to a certain lifestyle, but I have lived off top Romain, grilled cheese, and mac n cheese making 6k. That was with my parents stepping in to help me.

Here is some sites I pulled. Here is the electric company my city uses rates.

Monthly Fees
Customer Charge $6.63 - single phase; $23.22 - three phase

Usage Rates
Energy Rate (non-fuel) $0.06137 per kWh
Fuel and Purchase Power Charge Rate (ECRC) $0.04883 per kWh
Effective Billing Rate $0.11020 per kWh



Optional Nights & Weekends Pricing Plan See more information
Monthly Fees
Customer Charge $6.63 - single phase; $23.22 - three phase

Off-Peak Usage Rates (7 p.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays, weekends and holidays)
Energy Rate (non-fuel) $0.02582 per kWh
Fuel and Purchase Power Charge Rate (ECRC) $0.04248 per kWh
Effective Off-Peak Billing Rate $0.06830 per kWh

On-Peak Usage Rates (7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, Monday-Friday)
Energy Rate (non-fuel) $0.15071 per kWh
Fuel and Purchase Power Charge Rate (ECRC) $0.06055 per kWh
Effective Peak Billing Rate $0.21126 per kWh

and here is the rent cost average.

http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate?a=MSAAvgRentalPrice&msa=8240

Right now 1 bedroom (as in you really can't share it with anyone) is 684 dollars a month.

I'm really not trying to create conflict here, but I really do know that you can't possibly live with a roof over your head when you only make 6,000 USD a year. I'm sure someone will back me up.

Captcha: wtf is patagonia?

EDIT: LOL it asked to described "Patagonia" I put in "WTF" it worked.

 

[bobmus]

My whole perception of money has been slightly skewed by my dad. However, I'm doing a course in Pharmacology & Molecular Genetics, and need to decide if I want to do a masters is business afterwards or stay on a pure science route.
I pay £6000 for an academic year's worth of accommodation in London, and even more on top for food etc. I can't do this on a maintenance loan though, as the Student Finance board will only give the full payment if you have low-income parents...

 

[bobmus]

Well I got my offer from Uni for Prosthetics/orthotics. That'll land me in a job with the NHS that starts at £23k then goes up by about £3k every year until say £45k, then there'll be a big jump to management at about £65-£85 depending on where I'm working.
My parents were slating me though, they said I could do better, but that's well above the national average of household income on the starting salary!

Doctors don't get paid nearly enough for the hours they work, so don't go into it for the pay...
Also compared to business, that's pennies. Your salary would be a Christmas bonus for an executive in business.

 

[hensethe1]

I make 100.000 USD yearly and where I'm from that's considered quite far above average, and I pay top tax aswell

Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic

 

[Syntax Error]

Great answers guys, keep 'em coming.

I'll edit the OP for an additional follow-up so I can get an idea of Standard of Living as well. Also, from my perspective: HOLY CRAP YOU GUYS MAKE A SHIT TON OF MONEY!!! Seriously! Especially that guy who makes AUD 20 per hour of work at 17 years old! That's almost as much as my DAILY in my previous job... Then again, Standard of Living rears its head.

A little off-topic:
Just got my first paycheck from the new job. Was really surprised. I managed to get them to more than double my base pay, but I think my net income won't even increase 50%... I blame it on taxes. That's the dilemma for employees. Your hard-earned money is deducted even before you get your hands on it... Oh well, I really got to make my business work.

 

[IndomitableSam]

You can get a degree in library science?

What kind of things does that entail?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_Science

Basically, you have to be able to build a library. COurses about procuring funding, grants, fundraising. You need HR courses as you'll be managing large staff, hiring/firing/training/etc. You know what a call number is? We have to know how to make one. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataloguing) - Brain melty. Have to take courses in budgeting, be able to do basic if not major accouting. Have to study adult lit/education, children's lit/education, computer science/technology, some legal and copyright info, archiving (an archivist is a thing unto itself), learn how to provide reference - I used to have dozens of booklets on where to go to to find certain kinds of information, broad general knowledge of as many things as possible to know where to start, experience in databases, statistics, etc.

I'm a Library Technician, this is what my education is (as well as regular University Bachelor of Arts education) http://me.rrc.mb.ca/Catalogue/CourseDescriptions.aspx?ProgCode=LIBIF-DP&RegionCode=WPG - basically, I have less management education and more cataloguing and reference experience than someone with a Master's. I am also more generalized.

I currently work for my provincial government library - I"m in charge of acquiring all books published in the province, organizing and handling the accounting of all online database purchases, print subscriptions and books/movies/whatever else we buy. So I have to manage dozens of accounts with different companies, track orders, find people/publishers/whatever and track them down and make them pay us/give us what we ordered, and do PR and events for the library.

Also, today, I get to go into the rare book vault and start making a display of books for a tour coming soon of things over a hundred years old. Maybe I'll go read the hand-written journals of an explorer from the 1700's bound in deer hide.

Aside from the tedium of dealing with magazine subscriptions and such, my job does have its perks.

Captcha: Road less travelled

 

[Strazdas]

le snip

I do agree I am use to a certain lifestyle, but I have lived off top Romain, grilled cheese, and mac n cheese making 6k. That was with my parents stepping in to help me.

Here is some sites I pulled. Here is the electric company my city uses rates.

Monthly Fees
Customer Charge $6.63 - single phase; $23.22 - three phase

Usage Rates
Energy Rate (non-fuel) $0.06137 per kWh
Fuel and Purchase Power Charge Rate (ECRC) $0.04883 per kWh
Effective Billing Rate $0.11020 per kWh



Optional Nights & Weekends Pricing Plan See more information
Monthly Fees
Customer Charge $6.63 - single phase; $23.22 - three phase

Off-Peak Usage Rates (7 p.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays, weekends and holidays)
Energy Rate (non-fuel) $0.02582 per kWh
Fuel and Purchase Power Charge Rate (ECRC) $0.04248 per kWh
Effective Off-Peak Billing Rate $0.06830 per kWh

On-Peak Usage Rates (7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, Monday-Friday)
Energy Rate (non-fuel) $0.15071 per kWh
Fuel and Purchase Power Charge Rate (ECRC) $0.06055 per kWh
Effective Peak Billing Rate $0.21126 per kWh

and here is the rent cost average.

http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate?a=MSAAvgRentalPrice&msa=8240

Right now 1 bedroom (as in you really can't share it with anyone) is 684 dollars a month.

I'm really not trying to create conflict here, but I really do know that you can't possibly live with a roof over your head when you only make 6,000 USD a year. I'm sure someone will back me up.

Captcha: wtf is patagonia?

EDIT: LOL it asked to described "Patagonia" I put in "WTF" it worked.

So my estimates was 12 to 50 cents, yours are 6,8 to 21,1 cents - even less. There seems to be the 23,22 fee to begin with. that still leaves 76,88 dollars which is 364 in worst case scenario (all electricity being used up on peak rate). that still is double the amount of electricity we use as a 5 people family together. what, do you run a newspaper press in there?
You said you share your aparment with other people. Since there is no information lets assume 2 people and 1 bedroom per person (more expensive that otherwise) which accordin to your link is $732= 366 per person. (as i stated before, sharin makes it cheapier, you claim to do it). you said you pay 900, which is almost triple the average.
Im not trying to make conflict either, merely to show you that just because you live expensively, does not mean its impossible to live cheaper. 500 dollars a month is a small amount, but that does not make one a bum.

P.S. ill tell you a secret, capcha is broken, you can type anything and it works.

 

[Soxafloppin]

I work in a Leisure Centre in Belfast, I earn £8 an hour, which isn't enough considering I've responsibility of life and have to attend on going training in order to keep job but thats a story for another day.

I only have Part time hours (18.5 weekly) but there is plenty of over time so I can work closer to 40 hours, one day a week I can earn 1.5 time and one day I can earn Double time, If I work enough I can earn average £500-£600 a a fortnight, My record is £914 for a fortnight (was £1200 before tax), I got about £18k for the last financial year.

 

[loc978]

Well, I live in the middle of nowhere Oregon, US... and I would consider $100,000 a fairly large (but still reasonable) annual salary. I make less than half of that (between military pension and part-time employment), but my property has never been owned by a bank, so I have the advantage of no debt for housing.

I also know some people who live in the city and pay more in rent for an apartment than I pay in taxes for ten acres with a bigass house on it... and most of 'em make much less money than me. I'm actually ahead of the mean for the area, and I live more than comfortably. I even have a fair amount of disposable income (though not quite as much as I did in the military. Back then about 95% of my income was disposable).

 

[V TheSystem V]

I've not got a full-time job, so am only getting 80 quid a month if I'm lucky.

However, for a full time job, 40k a year is what I would wish to have. More would be nice, but I would like a lot of money and a job I enjoy. Sadly, that will probably never be the case...

 

[Your once and future Fanboy]

I don't make a lot of money, ca 7000-10 000 norwegian kroner a month (ca. 1700 US dollars).
but I have perks that I say even out that.
I work as a clerk in a game/music/movie store, and I get a quite good discount here.
I work a comfortable amount of hours a week, and I work more in certain seasons (i.e not to much in the late spring/ early summer, a shitload in november-december) so I have more money to spend those times of year when stuff like gifts, heating (its cold in Norway) and food takes more out of your monthly budget.
...And I love my job, so thats worth alot to me.